A/HRC/19/65 amendment to its Criminal Code, when it expanded the list of crimes punishable by death from five to six by adding “treacherous (disloyal) destruction” (art. 64).13 36. On 19 December 2007, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea adopted a unique form of law, referred to as an “addendum to the Criminal Code for ordinary crimes”, which has gone largely unnoticed by the international community. The addendum is a very significant legislative act, given that was formally adopted by the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly as a Government directive. Since its adoption, the addendum has functioned as a complement to the Penal Code, and carried the same weight as other provisions of the Criminal Code. The addendum comprises a total of 23 articles, of which 16 stipulate the death penalty for a number of crimes,14 including smuggling and dealing in narcotics, seizing State property, currency counterfeiting and illicitly selling State resources. With the adoption of the addendum, the total number of crimes that carry the death penalty in the country stands at 22. Furthermore, the addendum contains a number of vague expressions, such as “the gravest cases” or “extremely serious cases”, which leave room for arbitrary decisions by the authorities. The addendum permits the application of capital punishment for various crimes as long as the authorities are able to establish that the crime in question was “extremely serious” and falls under one of the 16 listed crimes. 37. It is important to note that the above-mentioned addendum was not considered during the universal periodic review of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and no reference was made to it in stakeholders’ submissions or the State party report. It is likely that the addendum was not known to stakeholders, which again highlights the need for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to interact more with international human rights organizations and their access to the country. 38. Reports of execution continued to be shared with the Special Rapporteur; as many as 20 such executions were reported to have been carried out in 2011 alone. Some of the reasons for executions include drug trafficking, murder, sexual assault, espionage and large-scale distribution of information material from overseas. E. Provisions for amnesties 39. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has a system that envisages special and general amnesties: special amnesties may be granted to individual criminals, while general amnesties may be granted to all criminals serving a sentence for a certain category of crime. In 2009, when the Constitution was revised, the State included a section that authorized the Chairman of the National Defence Commission to grant special amnesties, while the power to grant general amnesties was conferred upon the Standing Committee (Presidium) of the 13 14 10 When the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea was reviewed in the context of the universal periodic review ,in 2009, the Government stated that capital punishment was handed down only in the case of five categories of extremely serious crime; this would suggest the amendments made in 2009were probably enacted after the submission of the State party report. The crimes listed in the addendum that are punishable by death include “severe acts of wilful destruction of military facilities and technical combat equipment”, “severe acts of plundering of State property”, “severe acts of theft of State property”, “severe acts of wilful destruction or State property”, “severe acts of engraving or printing counterfeit currency”, “severe acts of smuggling or black market sales of precious metals or metals”, “severe acts of smuggling State resources”, “severe acts of smuggling or black market dealing in narcotics”, “extreme instances of prisoner escape”, “extreme instances of gangster-like behaviour”, “unlawful business operations”, “extreme instances of deliberate infliction of serious injury”, “severe acts of kidnapping”, “severe acts of rape”, “severe acts of theft of private property” and other exceptional crimes subject to an unlimited term of correctional labour or the death sentence.